- CHAPTER 3 -
INVENTORIES OF GRAZING LAND AND ANIMALS
Edition 6, July 2007

- TABLE OF CONTENTS:

(3-A) - Global Inventories - [A1] Land Inventories, [A2] Dry Lands, [A3] Grazeable Lands, [A4]~Grazing Land, [A5]~Analysis: Global Inventory of Non-dry Grazing Lands, [A6] Analysis: National-, Regional and Global Grazing-Land Use, [A7]~ Animal Inventories, [A8]~Animal Population Growth, [A9] Feedlot-related issues
(3-B) - Asia - [B1] Middle East, [B2] Far East, [B3] Asian Sub-Continent, [B4] Central Asia,
(3-C) - Africa - [C1] General, [C2] Sub-Saharan Africa,
(3-D) - North American Grazing Land - [D1] Data Tables, [D2] US Range Land Ownership, [D3] Cropland used to feed Livestock, [D4]~US Drylands, [D5] Cropland used as Pasture (US) , [D6] BLM and USFS Land, [D7] National Grasslands, [D8]~ Riparian Lands, [D9]~Public Grazing Land Lease/ Permit Characteristics, [D10]~National Parks and Similar Lands, [D11]~State-owned Lands,
(3-E) - North American Grazing Animals - [E1] Entire US, [E2] Western US, [E3] US Federal Lands, [E4]~Eastern US,
(3-F) - Inventories - South- and Central America - [F1] Conversion of Forest to Cattle Pasture, [F2]~Ruminant Inventories,
(3-G) - Europe, Australia/New Zealand and Oceania -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - og3
NOTE: The notation (su3) means that the data is used in the document analyzing the sustainability of the productivity of the world's food, fiber and water supply systems. (See elsewhere in this website.)

SECTION (3-A) - Global Inventories -- [A1] Land Inventories, [A2] Dry Lands, [A3] Grazeable Lands, [A4] Grazing Land, [A5]~Analysis: Global Inventory of Non-dry Grazing Lands, [A6] Analysis: National-, Regional and Global Grazing-Land Use, [A7]~Animal Inventories, [A8]~Animal Population Growth, [A9] Feedlot-related Issues,

See Chapter 6 Section (6-E) (Databases) "World Resources 2005" for a large compilation of:

~~ Total land Area of Countries and Regions (2002)
~~ Land Area Classifications - Agriculture - Permanent Pasture (1992 and 2002)
~~ Land Area Classifications - Drylands

[A1] - Global Inventories - Land Inventories -

Livestock now uses 30% of the earth's entire (ice-free?) land surface. It is mostly in permanent pasture, but also includes 33% of the global arable land (cropland) that is used to produce feed (mainly grain) for livestock (06U1).

Grass-based economies predominate in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay (UNFAO, FAOSTAT Statistics Database, <apps.fao.orgs> 5/2/01).

A quarter of the world's land is used for grazing, and extensive pasture provides 30% of total beef production and 23% for mutton (96F1) (03S2). Comments: The world's ice-free land area is about 132 million km2, suggesting that land used for grazing is 33 million km2. This seems small and obsolete. Perhaps "world's land" here includes ice-covered lands giving a total area of about 148 million km2 and 37 million km2 of grazing lands. This would suggest that pastureland is being neglected. (la)

Rangeland consists mainly of land that is unable to support crop production and accounts for 20% of the world's land surface - twice as much as the land area used for crops (02E1). Comments: Land unable to support crop production may be too arid or too sloped. Comments: The world's ice-free land area is about 132 million km2 and 20% of that is only 26 million km2. Grazing land area, globally, is at least 35 million km2 and probably much larger, so the 20% figure should really be at least 30%. (la)

A global map of the world's grasslands is found in Ref. (00W1), p. 123.

Estimates of the world's grassland ecosystems range from 41-56 million km2 (75W3) (79A1) (83O1). Comments: This probably neglects pasturelands that are typically semi-humid or humid.

PAGE researchers used satellite data and counted mosaics with other uses as grasslands wherever other uses constituted less than 40% of the mosaic. This produced an estimate of 52.5 million km2 of grassland ((00W1), p.122). (la)

The global non-ice-covered land area is 130-133 million km2, of which 30-40 million km2 is grazing land (40 million are forested, 15 million km2 are cultivated). The remainder is desert, tundra, mountains, rocky areas, urban (developed) areas, lakes/ rivers (2 million km2) and wetlands (2 million km2) (78B2?). (la)

Vegetated Surface area of the Earth: 117 million km2 (95D2). Comments: Apparently this definition includes lands too cold to grow even one crop (e.g. tundra), since most discussions of reasonably biologically productive land consider only about 85-90 million km2 of the Earth's 131 million km2 of ice-free land to fall into this category - and this includes about 4.7 million km2 of urban land. Part of the difference between 131 million km2 of ice-free land and 117 million km2 of vegetated land is accounted for by 6 million km2 of hyper-arid land. (See below). (la)

About 2/3 of the earth's savannas are in Africa (99L1). (la)

[A2] - Global Inventories - Dry Lands -

The global inventory of dry lands: hyper-arid land - 5.86 million km2; semi-arid land - 22.1 million km2, arid land - 22.2 million km2. (See the Irrigated Land Degradation Review document for the analysis.)

A report to UNEP indicates that 36.3% of the Earth's land area is extremely arid, arid, or semi-arid. Another world survey of land conditions based on soil and vegetation data indicate that 43% of the Earth's land area falls into these 3 categories (76E1). Comments: These percentages are relative to the earth's 131 million km2 of ice-free land, not the 148.9 million km2 of total land. 0.363 x 131 = 47.55 million km2; 0.43 x 131= 56.3 million km2. An analysis in the irrigation degradation review document gives 50.2 million km2.

The world's desert lands cover 46 million km2 (Ref. 63 of (90S1)). Comments: This must include semi-arid, arid, and hyper-arid land. The earth's major deserts cover only 15 million km2.

Dregne and Chou examined degradation-induced percentage losses of land productivity in the world's dry regions (Ref. 17 of (97C1)). Using FAO data Dregne and Chou found that 51 million km2 of land fell into the "dry" category (39% of the earth's ice-free land). 85% of this land is used at rangeland (43.3 million km2), 9% as rain-fed croplands, and 3% as irrigated croplands (97C1). Comments: In the Irrigation Degradation review, an analysis finds 22.1 million km2 of semi-arid land, 22.2 million km2 of arid land, and 5.86 million km2 of hyper-arid land. Total (hyper-arid +arid +semi-arid) = 50.13 million km2. Since it is doubtful that any hyper-arid land is grazed, it appears that 85% of rangeland is either semi-arid or arid. All this suggests that, to a good approximation, about 42.5% of the world's grazing land is semi-arid and 42.5% is arid.

[A3] - Global Inventories - Grazeable Land -

Countries such as China, some Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries (formerly in the USSR) and parts of South America still have the potential for major increases in the use of natural grasslands (98J1). Comments: The dust clouds over the Indian and Pacific Oceans are attributed to overgrazing and desertification in China (03N1). Argentina's Pampas have been badly overgrazed for decades. So the above statement is probably not true.

The FAO estimates that 70% (91 million km2) of the Earth's (ice-free) land is potentially grazeable (p. 364 of (91J1)). Comments: The additional grazing land would have to come from cropland and/or forestland. Using cropland would greatly reduce the Earth's carrying capacity. Converting forestland to grazing land greatly reduces the water-absorbing capacity of the land and creates destructive (erosive) flooding of cropland, lower-elevation grazing lands and urban lands.

[A4] - Global Inventories - Grazing Land -

About 50% of the Earth's (ice-free) land is grazed by domestic livestock (23% as "rangeland") while another 5% is farmed (cultivated) for food for livestock. 20% of the Earth's land provides forage for ruminants and other animals (Ref. 23 of (78B1)). (la)

Some 23% of the Earth's ice-free land (30 million km2) is grazing land (Ref. 25 of (81B1)). Comments: More recent data give a significantly larger area - see elsewhere in this document. (la)

Cattle and other ruminant livestock (e.g. sheep, goats) graze 50% of the planet's total (ice-free?) land. Ruminants plus pigs and poultry also eat feed and fodder raised on 25% of the world's 14.7 million km2 of croplands (91D1). (la)

An estimated 7 million km2 of forestland were permanently converted to grazing during past human history (86V2). (la)

Seiler and Crutzen (1980) calculated that forestlands were being converted to grazing lands at a rate of 60,000 km2/ year, mostly in Latin America. Houghton et al (1983) report similar results (86V2).

[A5] - Global Inventories - Analysis: The Global Inventory of Non-dry Grazing Lands -

Above we note that Dregne and Chou (Ref. 17 of (97C1)) have computed that 43.3 million km2 of semi-arid and arid lands are grazed by livestock. But this leaves no hint as to the amount of semi-humid and humid land that is grazed (typically land that is too steep or that has soil too poor to cultivate, and that is grazed rather than see it revert to forest land). Several references above (Ref. 23 of (78B1) and (91D1)) contend that 50% of the world's 131 million km2 of ice-free land (65.5 million km2) are grazed. This seems improbable however, since there is not enough land that is not assigned to categories other than grassland. So perhaps the best that can be done is to subtract all other categories of land-use from the world's total land inventory in order to get an upper (and probably reasonable) estimate of the world's total grazing land inventory. This is done below. (Areas are in millions of km2.) (la)

Land Category - - - - - | Area
Closed Forest ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 33.2 (00W1)(over 10% crown cover)
Sparse Forest ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |[ 5.4](
00W1)
- - Do not count Sparse Forest. It is part of the arid grazing land inventory.)
Croplands ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 15.1 (
00W1)
Urban (Developed) ~ ~ ~ | ~4.7 (
00W1)
Rock, Sand, Ice ~ ~ ~ ~ | 24.0 (73W1)
Tundra, alpine meadows~ | 10.4 ((73W1) et al)***
Wetlands, bogs, peatland| ~2.8 ((73W1) et al)***
Lakes, streams~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~2.0 (73W1)
Reservoirs~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~0.4 ((90W1) of Soil Degradation Review)
Total ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 92.6
Continental area~ ~ ~ ~ |148.9 ((82M1) of Soil Deg. Review)
Grazing Land (net)~ ~ ~ | 56.3
Grazing Land (Dry)~ ~ ~ | 43.3 (see above) (Semi-arid, arid)
Grazing Land (non-dry)~ | 13.0 (by difference)
*** Average of 3 values

A total grazing land inventory of 56.3 million km2 is quite reasonable since it lies within various estimates of the world's grassland inventory.

[A6] - Global Inventories - Analysis: National-, Regional and Global Grazing-Land Use -

(from Tables 17.1 and 18.3 of Ref. (90W1)) (1986-88 data) (See Ref. (90W1) for data on numbers of cows, sheep and goats, equines, camels and buffalos)
(Col. 2 and Col. 3 - Land area units - 1000 km2)
(Col. 4 - Animal Number in units of 1000 AUs)
AU = N(COWS) + 0.2 * N(Sheep and Goats) + 1.2 * (N(EQUINE) + N(Camel) + N(Buffalo))
Nation- - - -| ~Land| Graz.| ~AU ~ | AU/
- - - - - - -| ~Area| ~Land| ~ ~ ~ | G.Land
ALGERIA~ ~ ~ | ~2382| 311.3| ~ 5852| ~ 19
ANGOLA ~ ~ ~ | ~1247| 290.0| ~ 3643| ~ 13
BENIN~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 111| ~ 4.4| ~ 1282| ~291
BOTSWANA ~ ~ | ~ 567| 440.0| ~ 2811| ~ ~6
BURKINA FASO | ~ 274| 100.0| ~ 4807| ~ 48
BURUNDI~ ~ ~ | ~ ~26| ~ 9.1| ~ ~613| ~ 67
CAMEROON ~ ~ | ~ 465| ~83.0| ~ 5510| ~ 66
CAPE VERDE ~ | ~ ~ 4| ~ 0.3| ~ ~ 39| ~130
CENT.AF.REP. | ~ 623| ~30.0| ~ 2473| ~ 82
CHAD ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~1259| 450.0| ~ 5994| ~ 13
COMOROS~ ~ ~ | ~ ~ 2| ~ 0.2| ~ ~111| ~554
CONGO,PEOP.R.| ~ 342| 100.0| ~ ~120| ~ ~1
COTE d'IVOIRE| ~ 318| ~30.0| ~ 1525| ~ 51
DJIBOUTI ~ ~ | ~ ~23| ~ 2.0| ~ ~327| ~164
EGYPT, ARAB R| ~ 995| ~ 0.0| ~ 7892| ~ ~0
EQUAT. GUINEA| ~ ~28| ~ 1.0| ~ ~ 13| ~ 13
EHTIOPIA ~ ~ | ~1101| 451.0| ~48089| ~107
GABON~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 258| ~47.0| ~ ~ 38| ~ ~1
GAMBIA ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~10| ~ 0.9| ~ ~382| ~424
GHANA~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 230| ~34.1| ~ 2298| ~ 67
GUINEA ~ ~ ~ | ~ 246| ~30.0| ~ 1989| ~ 66
GUINEA-BISSAU| ~ ~28| ~10.8| ~ ~425| ~ 39
KENYA~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 567| ~37.4| ~13473| ~360
LESOTHO~ ~ ~ | ~ ~30| ~20.0| ~ 1305| ~ 65
LIBERIA~ ~ ~ | ~ ~96| ~ 2.4| ~ ~137| ~ 57
LIBYA~ ~ ~ ~ | ~1760| 133.0| ~ 1881| ~ 14
MADAGASCAR ~ | ~ 582| 340.0| ~10878| ~ 32
MALAWI ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~94| ~18.4| ~ 1231| ~ 67
MALI ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~1220| 300.0| ~ 7858| ~ 26
MAURITANIA ~ | ~1025| 392.5| ~ 3822| ~ 10
MAURITIUS~ ~ | ~ ~ 2| ~ 0.1| ~ ~ 51| ~510
MOROCCO~ ~ ~ | ~ 446| 209.0| ~ 9084| ~ 43
MOZAMBIQUE ~ | ~ 784| 440.0| ~ 1471| ~ ~3
NIGER~ ~ ~ ~ | ~1267| ~92.5| ~ 7087| ~ 77
NIGERIA~ ~ ~ | ~ 911| 209.7| ~21178| ~101
RWANDA ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~25| ~ 4.1| ~ ~924| ~225
SENEGAL~ ~ ~ | ~ 193| ~57.0| ~ 3683| ~ 65
SIERRA LEONE | ~ ~72| ~22.0| ~ ~431| ~ 20
SOMALIA~ ~ ~ | ~ 627| 288.5| ~19515| ~ 68
SOUTH AFRICA | ~1221| 813.8| ~19433| ~ 24
SUDAN~ ~ ~ ~ | ~2376| 560.0| ~33224| ~ 59
SWAZILAND~ ~ | ~ ~17| ~11.5| ~ ~736| ~ 64
TANZANIA ~ ~ | ~ 886| 350.0| ~15491| ~ 44
TOGO ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~54| ~ 2.0| ~ ~646| ~323
TUNISIA~ ~ ~ | ~ 155| ~30.4| ~ 2633| ~ 87
UGANDA ~ ~ ~ | ~ 200| ~50.0| ~ 5279| ~106
ZAIRE~ ~ ~ ~ | ~2268| ~92.2| ~ 2144| ~ 23
ZAMBIA ~ ~ ~ | ~ 741| 350.0| ~ 2853| ~ ~8
ZIMBABWE ~ ~ | ~ 387| ~48.6| ~ 6156| ~127
AFRICA ~ ~ ~ | 28545|7300.2| 288837| ~ 40
AFRICA ~ ~ ~ | 29636|7879.3| 292959| ~ 37
BARBADOS ~ ~ | ~ ~ 0| ~ 0.0| ~ ~ 42| ~ ~0
BELIZE ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~23| ~ 0.5| ~ ~ ~0| ~ ~0
COSTA RICA ~ | ~ ~51| ~22.9| ~ 2442| ~107
CUBA ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 111| ~27.5| ~ 6008| ~218
DOMINICAN REP| ~ ~48| ~20.9| ~ 2912| ~139
EL SALVADOR~ | ~ ~21| ~ 6.1| ~ 1239| ~203
GUATEMALA~ ~ | ~ 108| ~13.6| ~ 2482| ~183
HAITI~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~28| ~ 5.0| ~ 2595| ~519
HONDURAS ~ ~ | ~ 112| ~25.2| ~ 3148| ~125
JAMAICA~ ~ ~ | ~ ~11| ~ 2.0| ~ ~422| ~211
MEXICO ~ ~ ~ | ~1909| 745.0| ~49359| ~ 66
NICARAGUA~ ~ | ~ 119| ~52.0| ~ 2219| ~ 43
PANAMA ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~76| ~13.1| ~ 1658| ~127
TRINIDAD,TOBA| ~ ~ 5| ~ 0.1| ~ ~107| 1072
CENTRAL AMER.| ~2622| 933.9| ~74634| ~ 80
CANADA ~ ~ ~ | ~9221| 315.0| ~12423| ~ 39
UNITED STATES| ~9167|2414.7| 117335| ~ 49
NORTH AMERICA| 18388|2729.7| 129759| ~ 48
N. / C. AMER.| 21378|3670.2| 205398| ~ 56
ARGENTINA~ ~ | ~2737|1426.0| ~62384| ~ 44
BOLIVIA~ ~ ~ | ~1084| 268.0| ~ 8944| ~ 33
BRAZIL ~ ~ ~ | ~8457|1670.0| 152274| ~ 91
CHILI~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 749| 119.0| ~ 5290| ~ 44
COLOMBIA ~ ~ | ~1039| 398.0| ~28506| ~ 72
ECUADOR~ ~ ~ | ~ 277| ~49.0| ~ 5185| ~106
GUYANA ~ ~ ~ | ~ 197| ~12.3| ~ ~251| ~ 20
PARAGUAY ~ ~ | ~ 397| 191.5| ~ 7983| ~ 42
PERU ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~1280| 271.2| ~ 8573| ~ 32
SURINAME ~ ~ | ~ 161| ~ 0.2| ~ ~ 74| ~370
URUGUAY~ ~ ~ | ~ 175| 135.4| ~15354| ~113
VENEZUELA~ ~ | ~ 882| 175.0| ~13960| ~ 80
SOUTH AMERICA| 17435|4715.6| 308779| ~ 65
SOUTH AMERICA| 17535|4727.8| 308942| ~ 65
BANGLADESH ~ | ~ 134| ~ 6.0| ~27247| 4541
BHUTAN ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~47| ~ 2.7| ~ ~468| ~173
CHINA~ ~ ~ ~ | ~9326|4000.0| 161607| ~ 40
CYPRUS ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~ 9| ~ 0.0| ~ ~163| ~ ~0
INDIA~ ~ ~ ~ | ~2973| 118.2| 322009| 2724
INDONESIA~ ~ | ~1812| 440.0| ~14441| ~ 33
JAPAN~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 377| ~ 7.9| ~ 4742| ~600
KAMPUCHEA DEM| ~ 181| ~ 5.8| ~ 2643| ~456
KOREA REP. ~ | ~ ~99| ~ 1.3| ~ 2763| 2126
KOREA DEM.P.R| ~ 120| ~ 0.8| ~ 1386| 1732
LAO P.D.R. ~ | ~ 237| ~ 8.0| ~ 1852| ~231
MALAYSIA ~ ~ | ~ 329| ~ 0.3| ~ ~968| 3228
MONGOLIA ~ ~ | ~1565|1244.0| ~ 9065| ~ ~7
MYANMAR~ ~ ~ | ~ 658| ~ 3.6| ~12965| 3601
NEPAL~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 137| ~20.0| ~11024| ~551
PAKISTAN ~ ~ | ~ 771| ~50.0| ~50375| 1007
PHILIPPINES~ | ~ 298| ~12.6| ~ 6036| ~479
SINGAPORE~ ~ | ~ ~ 1| ~ 0.0| ~ ~ ~0| ~ ~0
SRI LANKA~ ~ | ~ ~65| ~ 4.4| ~ 3121| ~709
THAILAND ~ ~ | ~ 511| ~ 7.8| ~12306| 1578
VIET NAM ~ ~ | ~ 325| ~ 3.4| ~ 6245| 1837
AFGHANISTAN~ | ~ 652| 300.0| ~10393| ~ 35
BAHRAIN~ ~ ~ | ~ ~ 1| ~ 0.0| ~ ~ 12| ~ ~0
IRAN,ISLAMIC | ~1636| 400.0| ~20967| ~ 52
IRAQ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 437| ~40.0| ~ 4518| ~113
ISRAEL ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~20| ~ 1.5| ~ ~425| ~283
JORDAN ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~89| ~ 7.9| ~ ~393| ~ 50
KUWAIT ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~18| ~ 8.0| ~ ~ 95| ~ 12
LEBANON~ ~ ~ | ~ ~10| ~ 0.3| ~ ~191| ~637
OMAN ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 212| ~10.0| ~ ~445| ~ 44
QATAR~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~11| ~ 0.5| ~ ~ 72| ~143
SAUDI ARABIA | ~2150| 850.0| ~ 3115| ~ ~4
SYRIAN ARAB R| ~ 184| ~83.0| ~ 3755| ~ 45
TURKEY ~ ~ ~ | ~ 770| ~88.0| ~25881| ~294
UNITED ARAB I| ~ ~84| ~ 2.0| ~ ~433| ~216
YEMEN, REP.~ | ~ 195| ~70.0| ~ 2587| ~ 37
YEMEN P.D.R. | ~ 333| ~90.7| ~ ~864| ~ 10
SOUTHERN ASIA| 26777|7888.7| 725571| ~ 92
SOUTHERN ASIA| 26787|6785.5| 725601| ~107
USSR ~ ~ ~ ~ | 22272|3736.7| 158832| ~ 43
NORTHERN ASIA| 22272|3736.7| 158832| ~ 43
NORTHERN ASIA| 22272|3736.7| 158832| ~ 43
ALBANIA~ ~ ~ | ~ ~27| ~ 4.0| ~ 1267| ~317
AUSTRIA~ ~ ~ | ~ ~83| ~19.8| ~ 2706| ~137
BELGIUM~ ~ ~ | ~ ~33| ~ 7.0| ~ 3094| ~442
BULGARIA ~ ~ | ~ 111| ~20.3| ~ 4260| ~210
CZECHOSLOVAKI| ~ 125| ~16.4| ~ 5339| ~326
DENMARK~ ~ ~ | ~ ~42| ~ 2.1| ~ 2413| 1149
FINLAND~ ~ ~ | ~ 305| ~ 1.3| ~ 1553| 1195
FRANCE ~ ~ ~ | ~ 550| 120.7| ~25068| ~208
GERMANY~ ~ ~ | ~ 350| ~57.8| ~22431| ~388
GREECE ~ ~ ~ | ~ 131| ~52.6| ~ 3982| ~ 76
HUNGARY~ ~ ~ | ~ ~92| ~12.3| ~ 2315| ~188
ICELAND~ ~ ~ | ~ 100| ~22.7| ~ ~293| ~ 13
IRELAND~ ~ ~ | ~ ~69| ~46.8| ~ 6508| ~139
ITALY~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 294| ~49.7| ~11955| ~241
MALTA~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~ 0| ~ 0.0| ~ ~ 18| ~ ~0
NETHERLANDS~ | ~ ~34| ~11.1| ~ 5135| ~463
NORWAY ~ ~ ~ | ~ 307| ~ 1.0| ~ 1450| 1450
POLAND ~ ~ ~ | ~ 304| ~40.6| ~12916| ~318
PORTUGAL ~ ~ | ~ ~92| ~ 5.3| ~ 2876| ~543
ROMANIA~ ~ ~ | ~ 230| ~44.0| ~12040| ~274
SPAIN~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 499| 102.7| ~ 9738| ~ 95
SWEDEN ~ ~ ~ | ~ 412| ~ 5.7| ~ 1828| ~321
SWITZERLAND~ | ~ ~40| ~16.1| ~ 2015| ~125
U.K. ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 242| 115.7| ~17789| ~154
YUGOSLAVIA ~ | ~ 255| ~63.6| ~ 7094| ~112
EUROPE ~ ~ ~ | ~4727| 839.3| 166084| ~198
EUROPE ~ ~ ~ | ~4730| 839.8| 166108| ~198
AUSTRALIA~ ~ | ~7618|4371.4| ~54794| ~ 13
FIJI ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~18| ~ 0.6| ~ ~220| ~367
NEW ZEALAND~ | ~ 269| 138.6| ~21551| ~155
PAPUA, N.GUN.| ~ 453| ~ 0.9| ~ ~110| ~122
SOLOMON IS.~ | ~ ~28| ~ 0.4| ~ ~ 13| ~ 33
OCEANIA,AUST.| ~8386|4511.9| ~76689| ~ 17
OCEANIA,AUST.| ~7887|4515.4| ~77047| ~ 17
TOTALS ~ ~ ~ |129200|32700 |1929000| ~ 59
TOTALS ~ ~ ~ |130200|32200 |1935000| ~ 60
TOTALS ~ ~ ~ |130800|32200 |1935000| ~ 60

LINE 1 OF REGION TOTALS IS TOTALS OF INDIVIDUAL NATION DATA
LINE 2 OF REGION TOTALS IS REGIONAL TOTALS FROM TABLE 18.3
LINE 1 OF FINAL TOTALS IS SUMS OF ALL NATIONAL DATA
LINE 2 OF FINAL TOTALS IS SUMS OF TABLE 18.3 REGIONAL TOTALS
LINE 3 OF FINAL TOTALS IS FINAL TOTALS FROM TABLE 18.3

Analysis of National-, Regional- and Global Grazing-Land Use (la)
(from Tables 17.1 and 18.3 of Ref. (90W1)) (1986-1988 data)
Land area units - 1000 km2 (Col. 2 and Col. 3): Animal Number Units - 1000 (Col. 4)
AU= N(cows)+ .2* N(Sheep and Goats)+ 1.2*(N(Equine)+ N(Camel)+ N(Buffalo))
Region- - - - | ~Land|Graz.| ~AU~ | AU/
- - - - - - - | ~Area| Land| ~ ~ ~|G.Land
AFRICA~ ~ ~ ~ | 28545| 7300|288837| 40
CENTRAL AMER. | ~2622| ~934| 74634| 80
NORTH AMERICA | 18388| 2730|129759| 48
SOUTH AMERICA | 17435| 4716|308779| 65
SOUTHERN ASIA | 26777| 7889|725571| 92
NORTHERN ASIA | 22272| 3737|158832| 43
EUROPE~ ~ ~ ~ | ~4727| ~839|166084|198
OCEANIA, AUST.| ~8386| 4512| 76689| 17
TOTALS~ ~ ~ ~ |129200|32700| ~1929| 59
Comments: The average capacity of the world's grazing land is about 30 AU/ km2 based on the net primary productivity of the world's grasslands, so 59 AU/ km2 suggests significant over-grazing.

[A7] - Global Inventories - Animal Inventories (Also see tables above.) -

Domestic Ruminant Populations (1996-1998)
(Populations in millions) ((
00W1), Table FG.4)
Note: See Ref. (
00W1), Table FG.4, for a breakdown by nation.
- - - - - - - - -|Cattle|Sheep/|Equines|Buffalo
Region- - - - - - | ~ ~ |Goats | ~ ~ ~ |Camel
Asia(excl.Mideast)| 425 | ~653 | ~37 ~ |159
Europe~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 165 | ~183 | ~ 9 ~ | ~0
Mideast/N.Africa~ | ~34 | ~250 | ~11 ~ | ~6
Sub-Saharan Africa| 207 | ~366 | ~16 ~ | 14
North America ~ ~ | 115 | ~ 10 | ~ 7 ~ | ~0
Cent.Amer./Caribb.| ~47 | ~ 19 | ~16 ~ | ~0
South America ~ ~ | 301 | ~110 | ~23 ~ | ~2
Oceania ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~36 | ~168 | ~ 0 ~ | ~0
Totals~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |1328 | 1761 | 119 ~ |180
Developed ~ ~ ~ ~ | 351 | ~440 | ~19 ~ | ~1
Developing~ ~ ~ ~ | 977 | 1319 | 101 ~ |179
Comments: Cattle + sheep + goats thus represent 1680 million Animal-units (AU).

Domestic Ruminant populations (1990) (in millions) (94B3)
Region - - -|Cattle| Sheep/Goats**
North America| 110 | ~14
Latin America| 323 | 155 ** Omits camel, buffalo
Europe ~ ~ ~ | 124 | 165 equine
USSR ~ ~ ~ ~ | 118 | 145
Oceania~ ~ ~ | ~32 | 230
Africa ~ ~ ~ | 190 | 392
Asia ~ ~ ~ ~ | 396 | 702
Totals ~ ~ ~ |1293 |1803*
* Total AU = 1654 million.

Global domestic animal population (1997): nearly 1 billion pigs, 1.3 billion cows, 1.8 billion sheep and goats, and 13.5 billion chickens (98H2).

The world's grasslands support 2.7 billion domesticated ruminants - 1.2 billion cattle, 1.0 billion sheep, 0.4 billion goats and 0.13 billion water buffalo (Ref. 23 of (78B1)) (81B1).

Cattle and buffalo population (global, 1989) = 1.42 billion (FAO data) (91B1).

World ruminant populations (in millions) (81C2)
1972 |Cattle| 1130 |Buffalo| 127 |Sheep/Goats| 1435
1955 |Cattle| ~878 | ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~ |Sheep/Goats| 1201

[A8] - Global Inventories - Animal Population Growth -

The number of four-footed livestock alive on earth has increased 60% since 1961, and the number of chickens, ducks and other fowl, has quadrupled, from 4.2 to 15.7 billion (Vital Signs 2001: World Watch, 6/17/01). Comments: The world's human population about doubled between 1961 and 2001, so the above data suggest a switch from 4-footed livestock to 2-footed livestock.

Since 1950 the global number of 4-legged livestock has grown from 2.3 to 4.0 billion. Fowl populations have increased from 3 to 11 billion (91D1).

From 1950 to 2001 the world population of humans increased from 2.5 to 6.1 billion. The number of cattle increased from 0.72 to 1.53 billion. The number of sheep and goats increased from 1.04 to 1.75 billion (02E1).

The world's cattle population has doubled in the past 40 years to 1.3 billion (p. 366 of (91J1)). The UN reports that the world's domestic sheep population grew 9% during 1974-82. Today there are 1.3 billion domestic sheep (p. 366 of (91J1)).

[A9] - Global Inventories - Feedlot-related Issues -

The share of the world's cattle sheep and goats in feedlots at any one time is a small fraction of the number feeding on grass. Even in the US, which has most of the world's feedlots, the typical steel is in a feedlot for only a matter of months. Comments: A steer is typically butchered at around 18 months.). (Lester R. Brown, Eco-Economy, W. W. Norton and Co., New York (2001) p. 59).

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SECTION (3-B) - Inventories - Asia - [B1] Middle East, [B2] Far East, [B3] Asian Sub-Continent, [B4] Central Asia,

[B1] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Asia - Middle East -

[B1a] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Middle East -Afghanistan -

A massive drought and famine in 1971-1972 killed 70% of Afghanistan's livestock, including 22 million sheep (Lloyd Timberlake and Jon Tinker, "Soil and Trouble", Not Man Apart, 1/85).

[B1b] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Middle East -Iran -

Cultivation is being extended to better rangelands (78K1).

[B2] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Asia - Far East -

[B2a] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Far East -China -

China has 4 million km2 of natural grasslands (41.7% of China's total land area)
(http://English.eastday.com),

China had 350 million cattle, sheep, goats, and yaks in 2005, vs. 100 million in 1960 (06P1).

Following economic reforms in 1978 and the removal of controls on the size of herds and flocks that collectives could maintain, China's livestock populations grew rapidly. Today China has 127 million cattle vs. 98 million in the US. Its flock of 279 million sheep and goats compare with 9 million in the US (01B2).

In China are cattle: 63 million - Buffalo: 30 million - Sheep/ Goats: 129 million (1972) (81C2)

Some 6,670 km2 of grassland were converted to cropland in China's Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Guangxi provinces (Loess Plateau) over the past 30 years (89F1). (60 million people live in the loess plateau (89F1).) (la)

China's deserts are widely distributed throughout China's northern districts and cover 13% of its land area (86W1). (la)

About 16% of China's land is desert (6/29/99 Xinhua). Comments: The 13% figure may pertain only to the northern district.

[B2b] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Far East -Mongolia -

Livestock densities in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia (in China), Xinjiang (in China), and Tuva, Buryatia and Chita Oblast (in Russia) are shown on a map in Ref. (00W1), p. 217.

Mongolian livestock populations in 1918, 1960 and 1998 are charted in Ref. (00W1), p. 223. (Compare to the tripling of Mongolia's population in the past 60 years.)

Grasslands cover 80% of Mongolia's 1.567-million km2 land area ((00W1), p. 213). (la)

[B3] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Asia - Asian Sub-Continent -

[B3a] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Asian Sub-Continent - India

Some 12% of India suffers from the threat of desertification in the arid northwest and in a broad semi-arid zone from the Punjab in the northwest to Tamil Nadu in the south (86G1).

Arid land in India and Pakistan: 1.7 million km2 (86G1). (la)

Area in India in permanent pastures and other grazing grounds: 122,000 km2 (91J2). (la)

India's cattle/ buffalo population (1989): 269 million (FAO data) (91B1).

In India are: Cattle: 179 million/ Buffalo: 58 million/ Sheep/ Goats: 108 million (1972) (81C2):

India's 196 million cattle have 120,000 km2 of permanent pasture (1633 AU/ km2) (91D1). (la)

Demand for livestock fodder by 2000: 700 million tons/ year. Anticipated supply: 540 tons/ year (Ref. 23 of (88B1)).

India grows little more than 50% of the dry fodder its livestock needs, and 25% of its green fodder needs. Only Kerla and W. Bengal allow slaughter of cattle (91B1).

India's dry regions have lost over 33% of their "common" land since 1950. (Poor people graze their animals on "common" land 75% of the time.) (91B1).

In Rajasthan and Kamataka (in India), fodder supplies 50-80% of needs, leaving numerous emaciated cattle and hundreds of thousands of dead cattle when drought comes (Ref. 23 of (88B1)).

Since 1950, India's goat population has more than doubled, while cattle numbers have increased 25% (91B1). As grazing lands degenerate, people keep more goats, which survive better in hostile environments. Thus in Rajasthan the ratio of goats to cattle was under 0.5 in 1950, and 1.4 in 1983 (Green Letter, Sept. 1987).

In western Rajasthan (includes Thar Desert) (in India), the area exclusively available for grazing shrank from 130,000 to 110,000 km2 during 1951-61, while grazing animals increased from 9.4 to 14.4 million (76E2) (Ref. 27 of (78B1)).

[B4] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Asia - Central Asia

[B4a] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Central Asia -Russia

The total area of pastures and hayfields in Russia is 899,000 km2 (National Report ...2000). In addition, 2.82 million km2 are used for reindeer grazing (03S1). This type of land is characterized by the fact that only a small part of the area is improved. Only about 15% of Russia's hayfields and 6% of its pastures are improved (03S1). (Comments: Could "improved" mean irrigated?) (la)

As of 1/1/97 farms of all categories in Russia had 35.1 million cattle (including 15.9 million cows), 19.1 million pigs, 20.3 million sheep, 2.5 million goats, 2.2 million horses, 372 million poultry. The share of agricultural animals in the personal (privately owned?) sector (crofts and farming) accounts for 30-60% on average (03C1).

Mountains of Eastern Siberia, where total grassland area is 20,000 km2, are characterized by the prevalence of swamp meadows on mineral and peaty soils. Their productivity is 70-110 tonnes/ km2/ year (02S1). (la)

The area of mountain pastures in the Northern Caucasus is 31000 km2. Mountain steppe, meadow-steppe and meadow pastures and hayfields on leached black soils and mountain brown soils dominate here (20.5%) and their productivity is 50-70 tonnes/ km2/ year (03S1). (la)

The area of mountain pastures in Southern Siberia is 168,000 km2. Hillocky and sub-montane forest-steppe and steppe pastures on black and chestnut soils dominate here (38%) and their productivity is 40-70 tonnes/ km2/ year (dry matter - DM). The total forage reserve in mountain pastures and hayfields is 14.2-20.5 million tonnes of DM (03S1). The total forage reserve in the natural pastures and hayfields in Russia makes up 56.3-86.5 million tonnes of dry matter (DM) (03S1). (la)

Russia's semi-desert zone is characterized by the prevalence of extensive pastures. The productivity of pastures of wormwoods and gramineous plants is 20-30 tonnes/ km2/ year dry matter (DM). The productivity of trampled pastures of wormwoods is 15-20 tonnes/ km2/ year and productivity of the pastures of wormwoods, combined with saltworts on salted soils, is 30-40 tonnes/ km2/ year DM (03S1). Lowland dry and wet hayfields and pastures on meadow and meadow-brown salted soils occupy insignificant areas. Their productivity is 40-70 tonnes/ km2/ year (03S1). Total forage reserve in the semi-desert zone is 2.5-3.7 million tonnes of dry matter (03S1).

The forest-steppe and steppe zones of European Russia are characterized by the prevalence (78.9%) of degraded dry and dry steppe pastures. Their productivity is 40-60 tonnes/ km2/ year dry matter (DM). Soils under the grasslands are mainly washed-off, salted, and deflated (eroded?). The total forage reserve is 10.4-16.5 million tonnes of DM. Hayfields are situated within floodplains and lowlands and their productivity is 100-150 tonnes/ km2/ year. Productivity of these hayfields has shrunk by 50-70 tonnes/ km2/ year over the last 100 years. The grasslands that dominate (68.2%) the plains and slopes of the forest-steppe zone of Siberia are steppe and dry steppe. Their productivity is 50-90 tonnes/ km2/ year dry matter (DM). The total forage reserve is 8.1-14.6 million tonnes of DM (03S1).

Extensive dry meadows prevail in the forest zone of Siberia and Far East Russia. They cover 54.2% of the total grassland area in Western Siberia. The productivity of these meadows is 50-100 tonnes/ km2/ year. This type of meadow occupies 35.9% of the total area of grasslands in Middle Siberia and productivity is 60-110 tonnes/ km2/ year. Satisfactory harvests (100-200 tonnes/ km2/ year) could only be gathered in humid years. These meadows cover 38.1% in Far East Russia and their productivity in this region is 80-100 tonnes/ km2/ year. Floodplain meadows are widespread (33.5%) in Western Siberia with productivity of 120-270 tonnes/ km2/ year of DM. Swamped and low-lying meadows occupy 36.4% of the total grassland area in Far East Russia. Productivity is 120-230 tonnes/ km2/ year (dry matter), but forage quality is low. The total forage reserve makes up 11.0-17.1 million tonnes of dry matter (03S1). (la)

Forest reindeer pastures occupy the northern part of Russia's forest zone, i.e., open woodlands (lichen, spruce, birch, and aspen woodlands with part of dwarf birch, northern willow, Cetraria cucllata and reindeer lichens and Cladinia cellaris). Their productivity is 60-120 tonnes/ km2/ year (dry matter) (03S1).

Dry meadows in the forest zone of European Russia: The productivity of these meadows is 70-80 tonnes/ km2/ year. Fertile lowland meadows of tall grasses and herbs and gramineous plants and sedges make up only 17% of meadows in the forest zone. Their productivity is 110-150 tonnes/ km2/ year (dry matter) (03S1). The total forage reserve in the forest zone of European Russia is 9.8-13.9 million tonnes DM.

Reindeer pastures occupy 564,000 km2 in the European and West-Siberian parts of the Arctic tundra, tundra, and forest steppe; 603,000 km2 in Eastern Siberia; and 501,000 km2 in the Chukchi Peninsula. Productivity of reindeer pastures in Arctic tundra is under 10 tonnes/ km2/ year. In the tundra zone, it is 20-30 tonnes/ km2/ year. In the forest-tundra zone, 40-120 tonnes/ km2/ year (dry matter) (03S1). (la)

In the Arctic tundra, tundra, and forest-tundra zones of Russia are floodplain meadows. The productivity of floodplain meadows is 1.2-1.4 tonnes/ ha of dry matter (DM). The productivity of plain pastures is 0.7-0.9 tonnes/ ha. As shown in Table 1 below, forage reserves in Russia's tundra and forest tundra zones are 200,000 to 240,000 tonnes of dry matter.

Table 1. - Characteristics of forage reserves in Russia (03S1) (la) (tonnes/ ha means tonnes/ hectare) (DM = dry matter)
Tundra and forest tundra
Natural Zone Area,  (km2) - - 2000
Actual productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 1.0-1.2
Potential productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 1.1-1.5
Forage reserves (tonnes x 1000 DMa) - - - 200-240
Forests of European Russia
Natural Zone Area,  (km2) - - - 122,000
Actual productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.8-1.1
Potential productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 1.5-2.0
Forage reserves (tonnes x 1000 DMa) - - - 9,800-13,900
Forests of Siberia and Far East Russia
Natural Zone Area,  (km2) - - - 124,000
Actual productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.9-1.4
Potential productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 1.6-2.1
Forage reserves (tonnes x 1000 DMa) - - - 11,065-17,100
Forest-steppe and steppe of European Russia
Natural Zone Area,  (km2) - - 200,000
Actual productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.5-0.8
Potential productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.8-1.4
Forage reserves (tonnes x 1000 DMa) - - -10,400-16,500
Forest-steppe and steppe of Siberia
Natural Zone Area,  (km2) - - 138,000
Actual productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.6-1.1
Potential productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.9-1.6
Forage reserves (tonnes x 1000 DMa) - - - 8,100-14,600
Semi-desert
Natural Zone Area,  (km2) - - - 94,000
Actual productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.3-0.4
Potential productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.4-0.7
Forage reserves (tonnes x 1000 DMa) - - - 2,500-3,700
Mountain areas
Natural Zone Area,  (km2) - - - 219,000
Actual productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.6-0.9
Potential productivity (tonnes/ ha) - - - 0.9-1.5
Forage reserves (tonnes x 1000 DMa) - - -14,200-20,500
Total Natural Zone Area (km2) - - - 899,000
Total Forage Reserves (tonnes x 1000 DM) - - - 56,265-86,540
aDM = dry matter.

[B4b] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories -Central Asia -Soviet Union (former)

Cattle and buffalo population (1989) = 120 million (FAO data) (91B1).

Ruminant populations in the former Soviet Union (1972) (81C2):
Cattle: 102 million/ Sheep/ Goats: 145 million

Kazakhstan has 36 million sheep and goats, 6.5 million beef cattle, 3.4 million cows, and 3.3 million pigs (17.1 million AU excluding pigs). Total land area is 2.75 million km2, and 82% is used for grazing animals (7.6 AU/km2 of grazing land). (1.97 million km2 is used for agriculture - 99.7% of the land characterized as arable, plus 78% of all other land) (93M1). (la)

SECTION (3-C) - Inventories - Africa - [1] General, [2] Sub-Saharan Africa

[C1] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Africa - General

More than 2/3 of Africa is "dryland" (Rosamund McDougall, "Desertification and migration: An Optimum Population Trust Briefing," Optimum Population Trust, November 2006.). Comments: This is not very useful because "dryland" is poorly defined. A better description would be "semi-arid" or "arid" or "extremely arid" - terms that are fairly well defined. (Africa.doc)

Some 230 million cattle, 246 million sheep, and 175 million goats are supported almost entirely on grazing and browsing in Africa, where livestock is often a cornerstone of the economy (02E1).

African ruminant population (1955) (81C2):
Cattle: 201 million / / Sheep+ Goats: 186 million

In Africa, cattle, sheep and goat populations doubled during 1950-87 (p. 362 of (91J1)).

Africa had 295 million AU of livestock for 219 million people in 1950. In 1983 it had 520 million AU of livestock for 515 million people (Refs. 4 and 35 of (88L1)).

Livestock population in Africa: 273 million in 1950; 564 million in 1993 (190 cattle, 206 sheep, 168 goats) (265 AU) (94B3).

Around 1900, alfa-grass steppe covered 80,500 km2 in North Africa (20% of arid zone land). Tunisia's 13,500 km2 of alfa-grass steppe have shrunk to 6,000 km2 due to desertification. Desertification along the Sahara Desert border proceeds at an estimated 1000 km2/ year for all of North Africa (p. 238 of (70L1)). (la)

Ref. (70L1) tabulates (p. 229) areas for Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya (total area, non-arid area, non-desert area, arid area, desert area). Ref. (70L1) (p. 259) also tabulates average livestock populations of the arid- and desert zones of North Africa, and calculates that these populations represent very heavy grazing pressure.

Livestock populations have multiplied 6-fold in the past 2 decades in Kordofan Province, Sudan (77B1).

Sahel's livestock population quadrupled between WWII and 1968 (p. 361 of (91J1)).

[C2] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Sub-Saharan Africa - [C2a] Kenya,

The Angolan Miombo Woodlands cover all of central Angola and extend into the Democratic Republic of Congo. These woodlands (savannas) are part of a larger miombo ecosystem that covers much of eastern and southern Africa (about 2.7 million km2 - 2% of the Earth's 129 million km2 of ice-free land and 3% of the Earth's 90 million km2 of reasonably biologically productive land). Only low quality browsing is available for livestock. Soils are typically well-drained, highly leached, nutrient poor, acidic, and low in organic matter (problems associated with most tropical soils). Rainfall: 0.8 meters (south) to 1.4 meters (north and west). Humans have probably burned the vegetation for millennia - for agriculture, hunting and improved pasture. Because of the low productivity of the land, Angolan population densities are low (less than 5 people/ km2). Even then, poverty has produced a civil war that has been on-going since 1974. Widespread presence of the tsetse fly (and land mines) also serve to limit the populations of humans and livestock. The escalation of the civil war after the 1992 elections resulted in about 1000 people per day dying from conflict, hunger and disease (mainly civilian). About 2 million people (20% of the population) are internally displaced. Around cities and toward the southwestern highlands, human populations are more intense and, as a result, the vegetation and soils are degraded. The breakdown of the distribution of fuel supplies has resulted in extensive tree-cutting for firewood gathering and charcoal manufacture. The result is large deforested areas that are slow to recover. Illegal strip mining is irreversibly modifying (degrading) woodlands, grasslands, soil structure, soil erosion, and surface drainage patterns. (Mark McGinley, "Angolan Miombo woodlands." In Encyclopedia of Earth put out by Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment, June 2007, http://www.eoearth.org/article/Angolan_Miombo_woodlands/ ) (Africa.doc)

About 33% of Madagascar is burned each year (probably referring to the 33% that is savanna) (07R1).

Nigeria's livestock population increased from 6 million in1960 to 66 million in 2005 (Tim Large, "Advancing deserts fuel African conflict", Reuters AlertNet, 1/23/06.).

The Tsetse fly belt is roughly in the western Congo Basin (Lester R. Brown, Eco-Economy, W. W. Norton and Co., New York (2001) p. 60).

[C2a] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Sub-Saharan Africa - Kenya

Kenya sets aside 8% of its land for national parks. But at any given time, most of the animals are not within the parks, but are trespassing on increasingly crowded farmland. Since 1977, when hunting was made illegal, 40% (412,000) of range animals have disappeared from Kenya's savannahs, and they continue to disappear at 2-3%/ year. Thomson's gazelles, waterbucks, greater kudus, oryxs and elephants have declined over 50% (98M1).

About 20% of Kenya receives enough rainfall to raise cash crops (98M1). (la)

In the last 2 decades, tens of thousands of people have migrated into Kenyan lands not suitable for farming. These farmers have plowed under and over-grazed buffer zones around parks and reserves that the animals must use as dispersal areas during wet seasons. Kenyan wild lands are disappearing at a 2%/ year (98M1).

In Kenya's Taita Hills, a range of mountains sandwiched between the western and eastern halves of Tsavo Park, competition for land over the last 25 years has forced tens of thousands of Taita people to migrate from the fertile slopes of the mountains to the range-lands below, an arid savannah that was carved up into large communal ranches for cattle grazing in the 1960s. 58% (106,600) of the animal population of Tsavo, vanished during 1973-93 (98M1).

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SECTION (3-D) - Inventories-North American Grazing Lands - [D1] Data Tables, [D2] US Range Land Ownership, [D3]~Cropland used to feed Livestock, [D4] US Drylands, [D5] Cropland used as Pasture (US) , [D6] BLM and USFS Land, [D7]~National Grasslands, [D8]~Riparian Lands, [D9] Public Grazing Land Lease/ Permit Characteristics, [D10] National Parks and Similar lands, [D11]~State-Owned Lands,

Livestock grazes approximately 85% of federal lands (even national parks, wildlife refuges, etc.). Federal lands grazing permits are for 21.6 million AUMs. Grazing permit-holders account for over half of the commercial beef cattle in the 11 western US states (02G1).

[D1] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North America - Data Tables

US (48 states) Range Land by Ecosystem and Productivity (1976) (80H2), (80H1) (la)
- - - - - - -| Area |Pro- | ~ Productivity Class~ ~ ~ |Product.
- - - - - - -| 1000 |duct-| (1)* | ~(2)*| ~(3)*| ~(4)*| (1000
Ecosystem~ ~ |acres)|ivity|(1000 acres)-|- - - | - - -| AUMs)
Grassland
Mountain ~ ~ | 26871| 1661| ~ ~0| ~ ~914| 20826| ~5131| 16597
Mtn. Meadows | ~3285| 2824| ~ ~0| ~ 2090| ~1195| ~ ~ 0| ~ 822
Plains ~ ~ ~ |175233| 1016| ~ ~0| ~ 1826| 80592| 92815| 54325
Prairie~ ~ ~ | 41185| 3318| 1985| ~ 9691| 29509| ~ ~ 0| 45350
Desert ~ ~ ~ | 24744| ~307| ~ ~0| ~ ~ ~0| ~ ~ 0| 24744| ~2998
Annual ~ ~ ~ | 10153| 2064| ~ ~0| ~ 1987| ~5992| ~ 174| 10649
Wet lands~ ~ | ~4408| 5139| 1317| ~ 2459| ~ ~ 0| ~ 632| ~5425
Alpine ~ ~ ~ | ~6775| ~564| ~ ~0| ~ ~ ~0| ~ 783| ~5992| ~ 216
Total (Grass)|292654| ~- -| 3302| ~18967|138897|129488|136382
Shrub lands
Sagebrush ~ ~ |129961| 1027| ~ ~0| ~ ~ ~0| 61889| 68072| 24641
Desert Shrub~ | 81171| ~249| ~ ~0| ~ ~ ~0| ~2908| 78263| ~2809
SW shrubsteppe| 43218| ~488| ~ ~0| ~ ~ ~0| ~ 790| 42614| ~3775
Shinnery~ ~ ~ | ~4726| 1870| ~ ~8| ~ 1689| ~ 385| ~2644| ~1848
Texas Savanna | 28429| 2142| ~ ~0| ~ 5502| 21610| ~1317| 16493
Chaparral-Mountainshrub #
- - - - - - - -|14120| 1929| ~ ~0| ~ 4207| ~6617| ~3296| ~1612
Pinyon-juniper#|47304| ~385| ~ ~0| ~ ~ ~0| ~ ~ 0| 47304| ~2393
Desert ~ ~ ~ ~ | 7490| ~ ~0| ~ ~0| ~ ~ ~0| ~ ~ 0| ~7490| ~ ~ 0
Total (Shrub) |357683|- - -| ~ ~8| ~11398| 94199|251000| 53571
Western Forests| ~ ~ | ~ ~ | ~ ~ | ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~ ~|~ ~ ~ | ~5213
Eastern Forests| ~ ~ | ~ ~ | ~ ~ | ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~ ~|~ ~ ~ | 16820
Total 48 states| ~ ~ | ~ ~ | ~ ~ | ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~ ~|~ ~ ~ |211986

# can also be considered as forest land
*(1) 5000+ lb./ acre/ year of herbage and browse
*(2) 3000-4999 lb./ acre/ year of herbage and browse
*(3) 1000-2999 lb./ acre/ year of herbage and browse
*(4) 0- 999 lb./ acre/ year of herbage and browse
Comments: This table is also included in Section (2-B) on productivity.

Allocation of US Western Range Lands among Plant types (70H1)
(Areas in units of 1000 acres [1000 km2] )
Plant Type - - - - - | Area~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | Pct.
Tall Grass ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 18,513 [ ~75.0] | ~2.5
Short Grass~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |190,092 [ 769.6] | 27.2
Pacific Bunchgrass ~ | 42,534 [ 172.2] | ~5.8
Semi-desert Grass~ ~ | 89,274 [ 361.4] | 12.3
Sagebrush Grass~ ~ ~ | 96,528 [ 390.8] | 13.3
Southern Desert Shrub| 26,896 [ 108.9] | ~3.7
Salt-Desert Shrub~ ~ | 40,858 [ 165.4] | ~5.6
Pinon Juniper~ ~ ~ ~ | 75,728 [ 306.6] | 10.4
Woodland-chaparral ~ | 13,406 [ ~54.3] | ~1.8
Open forest~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |126,367 [ 511.6] | 17.4
Totals ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |728,196 [2948.2] |100.0
Totals By Addition ~ |720,196 [2915.8] |100.0
Source: US Dept. of Agriculture, The Western Range, 1936

Does not include dense forest, barren or inaccessible areas, or areas from which livestock grazing is excluded, such as national parks, military reservations and municipal reservoir sites.

Ref. (80H1) (Table 2.8) gives rangeland area in the contiguous 48 states by ecosystem for each state. Totals from Table 2.8 below are in millions of acres (and 1000 km2).

Ref. (80H1) gives the rangeland area in million acres / million km2 covered by various condition-categories in the US as of 1976.

About 50% of the total land area of the continental US is used for grazing livestock - about 1 billion acres (4.05 million km2) (USDA - FS 1983). (la)

Of the 1200 million acres of US range land; 835 million were grazed by meat-producing animals in the 1970s (79C1). (la)

Of the 650 million acres of range land in the contiguous US, 615 million acres were actively grazed sometime during 1977 (CEQ data, Ref. 61 of (82W1)).

US Rangeland/ Grassland Areas by Condition (1976) (la)
((80H1) Table 5.2) (Millions of acres/ Millions of km2)
- - - - - - -| Rangeland ~ | Grassland~ ~ | Shrubland
Total (48 US)| 650.35/2.633| 292.66/1.1849| 357.68/1.4481
Good ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~90.36/0.366| ~44.38/0.1797| ~51.98/0.2104
Fair ~ ~ ~ ~ | 203.50/0.824| ~94.65/0.3832| 108.86/0.4407
Poor ~ ~ ~ ~ | 244.59/0.990| 113.22/0.4584| 131.36/0.5318
Very Poor~ ~ | 105.89/0.429| ~40.40/0.1636| ~65.49/0.2651
Total by add.| 644.34/2.608| 292.65/1.1849| 357.69/1.4480
Comments: In general, the more arid lands (e.g. shrub-lands) are more readily degraded than less-arid lands (e.g. grasslands)

Ref. (80H1) gives forest- and rangeland area grazed in the 48 contiguous states by state/ region. (la)
788,972,000 acres (3.194 million km2) total grazed

173,766,000 acres (0.704 million km2) of forestland grazed
615,206,000 acres (2.490 million km2) of rangeland grazed

Some 4.2 million km2 of land are used to feed US livestock forage and grain. Of this, 3.8 million km2 are improved pasture and extensively managed forest-range (80P1). (la)

[D2] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North America - US Rangeland Ownership -

Control of the majority of federal forage is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small percentage of permittees. For example, the largest 24.4% of permittees on USFS lands control 79% of the forage (93G2), while an even greater concentration of power exists among BLM permittees, the largest 9.1% of whom control 74% of the forage (92G1). Comments: Hence, it is these large private and corporate ranchers to whom most of the federal subsidies accrue.

Federal grazing lands comprise more than 250 million acres in the US (02R1).

US Range Land Ownership (million acres) (80H1) (la)
Total classed as rangeland (including Alaska) 820. (3.32 million km2)
(natural grasslands, savannas, shrub land, most deserts, tundra, coastal marshes and wet meadows).
Alaska rangeland ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 231.
BLM rangeland~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 343. (42%)
USFS rangeland ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~45.04 (5%)
Rangeland-other fed. agencies| ~47.775 (6%)
Non-Federal rangeland~ ~ ~ ~ | 381.185 (1.543 million km2)
Comments: Much USFS forestland is also used for grazing.

Cattle graze on over 60 million acres (94,000 sq. mi.) of federal and state public lands in Arizona and New Mexico (99W2). (la)

Some 69-70% of USFS land is grazed; 89-90% of BLM land is grazed (86J1) (89W1).

About 90% of BLM lands in the west are grazed (87L1). The remainder is inaccessible, heavily forested, rocky, or otherwise unsuitable for grazing. Ref. (80H1) gives a map of (range area/ total state area) by state.

[D3] - Grazing Land/ Animal Inventories - North America - Cropland used to feed livestock -

About 800 million acres (40% of the US land area) are used for grazing livestock, most of which is for household food consumption. An added 60 million acres are used to grow grain for feeding livestock (99B3). (la)

Over 2/3 of the 444 million acres (1.8 million km2) of cropland in the 48 states are planted with livestock feed (56% for beef cattle). 80-90% of all grain grown in the US is used to feed meat animals (p. 364 of (91J1)).

About 40% of all US farm produce, including grain, is fed to livestock (p. 364 of (91J1)).

About 65% of the US outside of Alaska is somehow employed in the production of livestock (p. 364 of (91J1)).

[D4] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North America - US Dry Lands -

Deserts (under 10" of precipitation/ year) cover 25% of 11 western US states (p. 60 of (91J1)). (la) Comments: This means that arid lands and hyper-arid lands are considered to be desert.

A map of areas of the US with under 20" of precipitation/ year is given in Ref. (81S1). (20"/ year is considered to be the lower limit for successful agriculture without irrigation.).

A map of the US showing herbage and browse productivity (lb./ acre/ year) is in Fig. 5.5 of Ref. (80H1).

A map of average precipitation and average runoff over the US is shown on p. 452-3 of Ref. (80H1).

Some 95% of BLM lands get less than 15" of precipitation/ year (86J1).

(Prairie) Less than 1% of the (original?) 45 million acres (70,300 sq. mi.) of US natural prairie remains unplowed (GREENLines, 9/10/99). Comments: This probably refers to tall-grass prairie, not short-grass prairie.

(Prairie) The US has plowed or paved up to 90% of the tall-grass prairie that once covered the Midwest. Short-grass prairie (more arid and less suited to farming) is 80% gone (Stephanie Simon (Los Angeles Times) in Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 5/30/99).

(Prairie) Experts believe 99% of tall-grass prairies and 80% of short-grass prairies are now gone from the US landscape (Los Angeles Times, 5/25/99).

[D5] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North America - Cropland Used as Pasture -

Cropland used as pasture in the US (80H1) (la)
Year |1910|1959|1969|1975
Area | 84 | 66 | 88 | 84 million acres
Area |340 |267 |356 |340 x 1000 km2

Some 51 million acres (206,000 km2) of pastureland (of 134 million acres of current US pasture land) have potential for conversion to croplands (82W1) (USDA data). Comments: Much high-grade grazing land is being converted to low-grade cropland. (la)

[D6] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North America - BLM and USFS Lands -

The US Forest Service and BLM administer 85% of Western public ranchland - 260 million acres (406,000 sq. miles). Of this 85%, the BLM administers 63% (163 million acres - 255,000 sq. miles). The USFS administers 37% (97 million acres - 152,000 sq. miles) ((91J1) p. 21). (la)

Roughly 90% of Western BLM and 70% of Western US Forest Service land is managed for ranching [outside of Alaska] (91J1 p. 21).

Approximately 100,000 acres of US National Forest land in the eastern US, and some other non-Western federal lands, are commercially grazed ((91J1) p. 21). (la)

Approximately 98% of all livestock grazing on public lands in the US occurs in the 11 Western states. The remaining 2% is mostly in the Midwest, where 325,000 acres of BLM lands and several million acres of USFS lands (including National Grasslands) are open to ranching ((91J1) p. 21).

The US Forest Service and the BLM together manage 320 million acres of public land in the Western US, of which 258 million acres (81%), are grazed by privately owned livestock (02R2). (la)

Maps showing locations of USFS and BLM lands in the West are in Ref. (86J1). A map showing US grazing lands is in Ref. (86J1).

(Western Federal Lands) US domestic livestock graze 1.15 million km2, (91%) of all federal lands in the 11 contiguous western states (GAO 1998 et al in (97B2)).

(Western Federal Lands) Montana obtains about 7% of its forage from federal lands. Washington, California and Colorado get 2-6% of their forage from this source. The 11 western states obtain an eighth of their forage from federal lands (99P1).

Out of 76 million acres (308,000 km2) of USFS and BLM-administered lands in the Interior Columbia Basin, 32 million acres of rangelands and 20 million acres of dry and moist forests are managed for livestock grazing (97B3). (la)

The BLM (52 grazing districts) administers 150 million acres (607,000 km2) for grazing. The USFS administers 94 million acres. The remaining 6 million acres of public grazing land are administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Military (79F1). (la)

Some 246 million acres (63%) of USFS forestland are used for pastures for livestock (p. 50 of (91J1)). (la)

Of the grazed 70% of the Western US, 58% is publicly owned land used for commercial livestock, i.e. 306 million acres is public land used for private ranching. 35 million acres are grazed Indian reservation (91J1). (la)

Some 48% of the 11 western states, i.e. 361 million acres, is federally owned. The USFS and BLM manage 320 million acres (94O1). (la)

About 2% of the feed consumed by beef cattle in the contiguous 48 states is provided by grazing federal lands (99P1).

About 2.6% of livestock feed needs in the US are provided by federal lands (198(6?) data). In the 11 western states, federal lands provide 12% of total forage requirements (43% in NV) (93H1) (94O1).

Livestock graze 70% of land area of the West (US GAO,1988). (la)

Public forage produces less than 5% of the beef produced in the US (94O1).

Public forage accounts for less than 2.6% of the total livestock feed in the US (94O1).

Federal public land in the 11 western states contributes 3.5% of US beef production (99W2).

Federal lands in the western US contribute 20% of the stock sheep and 21% of shorn wool (93H1) (94O1).

(BLM) Livestock graze 94% of BLM's 165 million acres (668,000 km2) (99G1).

(BLM - Arizona) In Arizona, 816 permittees have 854 grazing allotments on 12.1 million acres of BLM land, on which approximately 50,000 head of livestock - largely cattle - are grazed.(16) The average grazing allotment is more than 14,000 acres; an average of 58 livestock are grazed on each allotment. So, on average, over 240 acres are required to sustain one cow on BLM grazing lands in Arizona (99W2). Comments: This last statement is also in Section (2-B).

(BLM - New Mexico) In New Mexico, 2,450 permittees have 2193 grazing allotments covering 12.8 million acres of BLM land (1). The average grazing allotment on BLM land in New Mexico is 5,856 acres. Livestock grazed on BLM land in New Mexico include 246,161 cattle-calf units out of a total livestock head count of 372,396 (99W2).

(BLM Lands) 165 million acres of land are included in grazing "allotments" - leased areas - on BLM land, mostly on the 200 million BLM-managed acres (lower 48 states) (94D1).

(BLM Lands) The BLM administers 174 million acres of public lands as grazing lands for privately owned domestic livestock (89W2).

(BLM Lands) The BLM's 52 grazing districts cover 160 million acres (75W1).

(BLM Lands) Exclusive of Alaska, where it controls 90 million acres, the BLM manages 179 million acres, 99% of which are in 11 western states. 167 million acres are authorized for livestock grazing (94O1).

(USFS Lands) The USFS calculates that 50 million acres of USFS land is "suitable" for grazing, out of 100 million acres included in USFS grazing allotments (94D1).

(USFS Lands) On public lands administered by the USFS, there are 458 grazing permittees in Arizona and 1,149 in New Mexico. There are 323 allotments with 151,683 head of livestock in Arizona National Forests and grasslands, and 615 allotments with 103,846 head of livestock in New Mexico National Forests and grasslands (some allotments have multiple permittees). Livestock graze on 18.6 million of the 20.7 million total acres of the USFS's Region 3 (Arizona, New Mexico, and small areas in Oklahoma and Texas) ([18] in 99W2).

(USFS Lands) Data on grazing on USFS land are given in Ref. (79F2). Livestock grazing is a factor in the management of 105.5 million acres of the 187 million acres of the National Forest System (79F2).

The USFS controls close to 144 million acres in the West. 140 million are forest, and most of the rest are grasslands. 91 million of these 144 million acres are open to grazing with a grazing permit (94O1). (la)

Grazing-Related Land-Use (79C1) (la)
(Areas are in km2) ("%" means % of region):
- - - - - - - - -| ~ Pasture~ | ~Hay Land~ | Rangeland
Region- - - - - -| ~ Area % ~ | ~ Area % ~ | Area %
11 Western States| 35,630 1.17| 47,290 1.55|2,032,270 67.0
6 Plain States ~ | 97,100 5.93| 76,570 4.67| ~746,400 45.6
48 Contig. States|410,240 5.36|250,770 3.27|3,366,910 44.0
Hay lands are often grazed after hay harvest.
Rangeland is managed like native vegetation.
Pasture is grazing land supporting introduced forage species.

Ref. (79M1) gives data, by state and region, on total range area, improved pasture area, etc. as of 1976.

On California's Mojave Desert, 108 ranchers graze livestock on 7281 mi2 (18,858 km2) of BLM land of mid- to upper-elevation desert. This 5% of CA produced 103,191 AUMs in 1987 (1 cow/ mi2) (0.39 cow/ km2) (p. 64 of (91J1)). Comments: This data is also in Section (2-B).

[D7] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North America - National Grasslands -

Little Missouri (the largest National Grasslands) covers 2.9 million acres (11,700 km2) in ND, SD, WY and NB - 25% of US national grassland area (AP, 9/9/99). (la)

A federal (National) grassland management proposal would cut grazing on public lands in the Great Plains by 10-15% overall, and by 30-40% in areas which are in "bad shape" (AP, 9/9/99).

[D8] - Inventories - North America - Riparian Land -

In Arizona and New Mexico 80% of all vertebrates depend on riparian areas for at least half of their life cycles: more than half of these are totally dependent on riparian areas (90C1).

Riparian areas provide habitat for more species of birds than all other western rangeland vegetation types combined. More than half of all bird species in the southwestern US are completely dependent upon riparian areas (90C1).

There are hundreds of thousands of miles of riparian habitat on public land in the western US (99W1).

Riparian area and associated waterways cover 3 million acres (under 1%) of western public lands. In the US as a whole, riparian areas cover fewer than 5% of the land (p. 94 of (91J1)). (la)

The BLM manages 176 million acres of upland and 1 million acres of riparian areas (94B2). (la)

The USFS manages 144 million acres of uplands and 2.2 million acres of riparian areas (94B2). (la)

Riparian areas may comprise less than 1% of the area in the western US. They are among the most productive and valuable of all western US lands (90C1).

In the Great Basin of southeastern Oregon, over 75% of terrestrial wildlife species are dependent upon or use riparian habitats (90C1).

In southeastern Wyoming over 75% of all wildlife species depend on riparian habitats (90C1).

In 1995, 27% of BLM streams were classified in "proper functioning condition," by BLM scientists. By 1998, that total had risen to 36%. Wayne Elmore, an Oregon ecologist who heads the federal government's streams team, has conducted studies showing that streams and wildlife can recover, but usually if cows are removed for five years or more. After plants grow back, cows must graze only part of the year, he argues (99R1).

[D9] - Inventories - North America - Public Grazing Land Lease/ Permit Characteristics -

Some southern Utah ranchers reached an agreement with a conservation group and the BLM to sell or trade grazing rights on 120,000 acres inside Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The agreement means that no grazing rights now exist along 80 miles of the Escalante and tributaries. The process was used in 1998 to get cattle off the Lost Spring Canyon addition to Arches National Park. Before that the Conservation Fund used the tactics to retire allotments in a section of Horseshoe Canyon west of Canyonlands National Park. (Lisa Church, "Utah Ranchers Agree to Sell or Trade Grazing Rights Inside Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument", Salt Lake Tribune: 01/05/99).

Some 31,000 ranchers (composed of 27,000 individuals, partnerships and corporations) hold permits to graze the entire 310 million acres of US public rangeland (2% of livestock produced and 5% of western rancher). They provide 3% of the nation's supply of beef (85E1) (94O1).

Nationwide, 2% of livestock operators hold public grazing permits. 16% of those in 11 western states hold grazing permits (94O1).

Department of the Interior's "Public Land Statistics" (1986) showed that BLM has 163 million acres in grazing permits or leases in 16 western states. 20,000 operators grazed 4 million head of livestock under these permits and leases. They used 10.5 million AUMs (88D1).

In 1986 the USFS had 102 million acres in 10,387 range-allotments in 36 states. The USFS administered 13,805 permits; forage use was 8.6 million AUMs (The "Chief's Report") (88D1).

Some Public Land Statistics for 1986 in 16 Western States (88D1)
Parameter - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -|USFS | BLM
Ave. size of grazing allotment (acres)(94O1);| 9750| 7400
Stocking rate/allotment (AUMs) (94O1); ~ ~ ~ | ~782| ~435
Number of allotments (94O1); ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 9000|22000
Number of Permittees (94O1); ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |17000|19104
Permits issued/ year (75W1); ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ ~?|15500+
Number of cattle (1000) (94O1);~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 1400| 2200
Number of sheep (1000) (94O1); ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 1200| 2100
Number of horses (1000) (94O1);~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 18| ~ 11
Total grazing (millions) (94O1); ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~7.7| ~ 9.6
- - Grazed by cattle (%) (94O1); ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 88| ~ 87
- - Grazed by sheep -(%) (94O1); ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 10| ~ 12
Total Area Grazed (million acres) (94O1);~ ~ | ~105| ~167

Grazing Permittee Statistics for Public-Land Ranching in 11 Western States (91J1) (1986-87 USDA and USDI data)
Livestock permittees authorized to graze W. BLM land |19,146
Livestock lessees authorized to graze E. BLM land~ ~ | ~ 578
Western USFS permittees (all livestock)- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |11,952
Eastern USFS permittees (all livestock)- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 2,044
Number of permittees on all western public land~ ~ ~ |30,000
US cattlemen (1.6x106 total; 0.18 million in the west)| -
% of western cattlemen ranching western BLM/USFS land| ~ 12%
% of western cattlemen ranching western public land~ | ~ 16%
% of US cattlemen ranching western BLM/USFS land ~ ~ | ~1.4%
% of US cattlemen ranching all BLM/USFS land ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~1.5%
% of US cattlemen ranching W. publicly-owned land~ ~ | ~1.9%
% of US pop. represented by W. public land permittees| .012%
% of W pop. represented by W. public land permittees | .05 %

Ranching- and Land Ownership statistics for public-lands ranching in 11 western states (p. 568, (91J1)) (1986-87 USDA, USDI data) (Areas are in millions of acres.)
Category - - - - - - - - - - - - - |Area |% of West
administered by BLM~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 177 | 24%
as BLM land used for ranching~ ~ ~ | 163 | 92%
ranched on BLM land~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 163 | 22%
administered by USFS ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 141 | 19%
USFS land used for ranching~ ~ ~ ~ | ~97 | 69%
ranched on USFS land ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~97 | 13%
administered by BLM and USFS ~ ~ ~ | 318 | 42%
BLM and USFS land ranched~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 260 | 82%
ranched on BLM and USFS land ~ ~ ~ | 260 | 35%
ranched on other federal lands ~ ~ | ~ 5 | ~1%
that is federal land ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 360 | 48%
as federal land ranched~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 265 | 74%
ranched on state land~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~35 | ~5%
ranched on county/city/misc. govt.land| 5 | ~1%
publicly owned ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 418 | 56%
publicly owned land ranched~ ~ ~ ~ | 306 | 73%
ranched on publicly owned land ~ ~ | 306 | 41%
ranched on Indian reservation land | ~35 | ~5%
privately owned~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 295 | 39%
not-ranched private land ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 106 | 14%
ranched on private land~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 184 | 25%
ranched~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 525 | 70%
that is ranched that is public land| 306 | 58%
Total land area of 11 western states| 750 | -

Forest- and Range Land Grazed in the 48 Contiguous States, 1976 (80H1) (Areas are in units of 1000 Acres)
- -Total - -| ~ ~USFS~ ~ | ~ ~ BLM~ ~ | Non-Fed.
Forest|Range|Forest|Range|Forest|Range|Forest| Range
Northeast:
~3729| ~ ~ 0| ~ ~17| ~ ~0| ~ ~ 0| ~ ~0| ~3711| ~ ~ 0
North Central:
11239| ~1115| ~ ~ 8| ~ 65| ~ ~ 0| ~ ~0| 11199| ~1049
Southeast:
18061| ~2480| ~1073| ~ ~0| ~ ~ 0| ~ ~0| 16988| ~2480
South Central:
31170| ~1368| ~3482| ~ ~0| ~ ~ 0| ~ ~0| 27656| ~1368
Rocky Mountains:
51268|366491| 34594|34233| ~1696|124230|14672|200065
Great Plains:
26426|174619| ~1828| 3258| ~ ~44| ~313| 24545|171022
Pacific Northwest:
18893| 29636| 10141| 1725| ~ 506|13047| ~8243| 14862
Pacific Southwest:
12989| 39497| ~6541| 4860| ~ ~ 1| 7694| ~6342| 26902
Totals:
173766|615206| 57684|44141| 2247|145284|113356|417748

Ref. (80H1) tabulates, by state, the area of total grass-land, mountain grass-land, mountain meadow, plains grass-land, prairie, desert grass-land, annual grass-land, wet grassland and alpine as of 1976 (in 1000 acres).

Ref. (80H1) tabulates, by state, the area of total shrub land, sagebrush, desert shrub, southwestern shrub-steppe, shinnery, Texas savanna, desert, chaparral-mountain shrub, and pinyon juniper.

Ref. (80H1) tabulates, by state, the area of the state, forested area, rangeland area, and total water area.

[D10] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North America - National Parks and Similar Lands -

(Wildlife Refuges) Cattle grazing and haying occur at 123 US national wildlife refuges. At any given site these activities occupy up to 50% of refuge funds and 55% of staff time (94F2).

(Wilderness Areas) Of all federal wilderness areas in the US, 35% have active livestock grazing allotments - the percentage for the West is probably higher (94F2).

In the 11 Western states, the National Park Service currently administers 23 National Parks, 47 National Monuments, 11 National Recreation Areas, and 17 National Memorials, Historic Sites, Historic Parks, Battlefield Parks, Seashores and such. These 98 NPS units cover 17 million acres (68,800 km2), or 2.3% of the West. Somewhat less than 3 million acres of this land are open to commercial ranching, including 7 National Parks, 7 National Monuments, 5 National Recreation Areas, and 7 National Memorials ((91J1) p. 473). (la)

[D11] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North America - State-Owned Lands -

Various state parks, state-operated regional parks, and state land trusts are ranched, often as a condition of their establishment. Many of these lands are purchased and set aside for the expressed purpose of preserving their natural character for the enjoyment and use of the people ((91J1) p. 480).

Most state-owned land was established for the purpose of supporting education, including state colleges, while smaller land grants were provided for state institutions, internal improvements, and other purposes. Typically, western states require state lands to be used to return the highest possible revenue to state school systems ((91J1) p. 478).

The 11 Western states own 46 million acres (186,000 km2) - roughly 6% of the western US. About 36 million acres (nearly 80%) of these state-owned lands are used for livestock ranching ((91J1) p. 478). (la)

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SECTION (3-E) - Inventories - North American Grazing Animals - [1] Entire US, [2] Western US, [3] US Federal Lands, [4]~ Eastern US,

[E1] -Inventories - North American Grazing Animals - Entire US

Although there are commercial operations in 42 states, the number of American sheep ranches is off 25% in the past decade, and more are on the brink. US ranchers have been hurt by the strong dollar, which has helped producers in Australia and New Zealand make huge profits on the lamb they sell in the US (01G1).

In 80 years, US sheep numbers have plunged from more than 60 million to less than 7 million (01G1).

US rangeland livestock herbage from west. BLM/FS land: | ~9%
west. rangeland livestock herbage from BLM/USFS land:~ | 17%
west. rangeland livestock herbage from W. public lands | 27%
western livestock feed supplied by west. BLM/USFS land | 11%
western livestock feed supplied by all W. public land~ | 18%
US sheep feed supplied by west:~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 47%
US sheep feed supplied by public land: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 15%
US cattle feed supplied by public land:~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~3%
% of US sheep/cattle production that is sheep (by wt)~ | ~2%
US livestock production from rangeland/pasture herbage:| 50%
US livestock production from livestock crops:~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 50%

Herbage used by cattle on western BLM land ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 9.6*
Herbage used by sheep/goats on western BLM land~ ~ | ~ 1.5*
Herbage used by cattle on western USFS land~ ~ ~ ~ | ~ 6.2*
Herbage used by sheep/goats on western USFS land ~ | ~ 0.9*
Herbage used by cattle on western public land~ ~ ~ | ~27. *
Herbage used by sheep on western public land ~ ~ ~ | ~ 3. *
Cattle/sheep production, west. private/Indian land | 170. *
Cattle/sheep production in the US~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |1000. *
* million AUMs. The US cattle herd has dropped to 107 million head as of July 1999 from 113 million in 1995 (99B2).

Ref. (80H1), Fig. 5.7, plots the number of cattle and calves on US farms vs. time (1930-75): 60 million in 1930; 132 million in 1975.

A non-referenced UPI release of 1/26/79 reported that the 12.2 million sheep and lambs in the US on 1/1/79 was the smallest number since records were begun in 1867. US Sheep population nearly halved during 1965-76 as synthetic fibers replaced wool. Sheep population leveled off at 12 million in 1977 (92W1).

Number of sheep being raised in the US: under 8 million head, vs. over 50 million during the 1950s (USDA data) (99S1).

Ref. (80H1) p. 281 plots grazing AUMs vs. time (1965-78) for US beef cattle, dairy cattle, sheep/ goats, horses/ mules (1050 million AUM in 1965; 800 in 1978).

US sheep inventory at start of 2000: 7 million (down 22% from 1995) (USDA data). Sheep lost to wild predators fell 26% to 273,000. Sheep killed by domestic dogs increased 2% to 41,300 (Wall Street Journal, 5/11/00).

US Cattle/ Buffalo population (1989) = 99 million (FAO data) (91B1).

US cattle inventory (millions) from USDA data - 1990 survey
Year|1960|1965|1969|1970|1975|1977|1980|1982|1985|1989|1990
Pop.| 96 | 109| 110| 112| 131| 110| 111| 115| 109| 98 | 98

Feedlot-grain Consumed per (feedlot?) Beef-cow (82W1)
Year|1965| 1976| 1981
Lbs.|4457| 5181| 4280

US Cattle consume 96% of total grazed forage (91J1).

During 1965-1967 75% of forage was consumed by beef cattle, 10% by sheep, and 15% by dairy herds. In 1974-76, 85% of forage was consumed by beef cattle (USDA data) (82W1).

Cattle and Calves in the US (millions) (94E1)
Year |Total|Beef|Dairy|Bulls|Calves|Cattle|Calves
- - -| ~ ~ |Cows|Cows | ~ ~ |~ ~ ~ |Slaughtered
1975 |132.6|45.7|11.2 |3.0~ |72.1~ |41.5~ |5.4
1980 |111.2|37.1|10.8 |2.5~ |60.9~ |34.1~ |2.7
1985 |109.7|35.4|10.8 |2.7~ |61.1~ |36.6~ |3.4
1990 | 99.3|33.7|10.1 |2.2~ |53.2~ |34.1~ |2.2
Animals in US feed-lots in 1990 = 10.06 million
(Their manure = 24 million tonnes/ year.)

[E2] -Inventories - North American Grazing Animals - Western US -

In Idaho, there were 275,000 head in 2001, seventh behind leaders Texas at 1.1 million and California at 840,000 (01G1).

A plot of grazing levels of cattle, sheep, deer, bison, bighorn, elk, and antelope on rangelands in 11 western states vs. time (1855-1977) is on p. 14 of Ref. (86J1).

Public Land Livestock (cattle and sheep) Production Data for the 11 Western States (p. 570 of (91J1)) (1986-87 USDA and USDI data)
% of US livestock feed supplied by:
western BLM and USFS land~ | ~2%
other western public lands | ~1%
eastern public land~ ~ ~ ~ | <0.25%
all publicly owned land~ ~ | ~3%
private+indian land in west| 18%
private land in East ~ ~ ~ | 79%
private land ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 97%
West ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | 21%

In the 11 western states, 60% of livestock activity is associated with cattle and sheep (99P1).

(Wild Horses) There may be over 40,000 horses running wild on rangelands of the Navajo Nation as a result of lack of control, which adds to over-grazing (97W1).

On the western range, cattle and sheep outweigh all large native herbivores combined by about 10 times (91J1).

Grazing animal populations (million AUMs/ year) in the 11 western states (86J1)
Year |Wild*|Cattle|Sheep|deer
1850 | 85~ | ~ 0~ | ~0~ | 8
1860 | 65~ | ~ 6~ | ~6~ | 7
1870 | 43~ | ~16~ | 16~ | 6
1880 | 23~ | ~33~ | 40~ | 4
1890 | ~8~ | ~56~ | 42~ | 2
1900 | ~3~ | ~49~ | 60~ | 2
1910 | ~1~ | ~57~ | 70~ | 2
1920 | ~1~ | ~79~ | 53~ | 2
1930 | ~1~ | ~63~ | 56~ | 2.5
1940 | ~1~ | ~69~ | 58~ | 4.
1950 | ~1~ | ~56~ | 30~ | 6.
1960 | ~1~ | ~81~ | 27~ | 5.5
1970 | ~1~ | ~87~ | 23~ | 4.0
1976 | ~1~ | ~94~ | 13~ | 3.5
* Bison, bighorn, elk, antelope
Source: Frederic H. Wagner, "Livestock Grazing and the Livestock Industry"

During 1940-1990, the number of cattle in the western US increased from 25.5 to 54.4 million ((95T1) in (99B1)). Comments: How many of these cattle are in feedlot operations, and how has this feedlot number changed during 1940-90?

[E2a] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Western US -Arizona -

Cattle numbers: 1,500,000 in 1890; 400,000 in 1900, all on rangeland. In 1980, over 50% were in feedlots (of 365,000 total) (85R2).

Cattle Populations (1000s) in Southeast Arizona Counties (83C1)
Year|1890|1900|1910|1920|1930|1940|1950|1960|1970|1980
Pop.|1500| 438| 375| 263| 268| 250| 210| 250| 240| 188

[E2b] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Western US -Colorado -

Trouble in Asia's economy, rigid quotas in Europe, and changing tastes of American consumers, have taken their toll on Colorado's once vibrant sheep industry (99S1).

Colorado remains the largest sheep-feeding state in the nation, with sheep brought here from Utah and elsewhere for feeding. But the total of 440,000 head of lambs and sheep in the state on 1/1/99, was down 23% from 1998 (99S1).

[E3] -Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North American Grazing Animals - US Federal Lands -

Nearly 7 million cattle, sheep and horses are authorized to graze USFS- and BLM lands, on a seasonal or yearlong basis (94O1).

When BLM and national forests are combined, the overall livestock total has fallen 1.5% since 1988 (99R1).

Cattle consume 80% of USFS and BLM forage (94O1).

Some 3.8% of US beef cattle graze on federal lands (USDA data) (99R1).

The 5 million cattle grazing public land = 8% of US beef cattle (79F1).

About 70% of USFS land in the 11 western states is grazed by privately owned livestock, but this accounts for 0.78% of US red-meat supply (86J1).

Publicly owned grazing lands, and the private lands they are linked with, contribute 3-4% of the red meat and 25% of the wool produced in the US (85R1).

The BLM has cut stocking in its districts from 22 million to 10 million AUMs/ year since 1934. (USFS record is similar.) (85R1). Public land stocking has nearly halved since 1935. It still exceeds carrying capacity because the greater weight of modern livestock breeds has offset reduced numbers (94O1). Comments: US Soil loss, etc. is considered to have reduced carrying capacity by about 50% over the past 1.3 centuries.

[E4] -Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - North American Grazing Animals - Eastern US -

Superior Wilderness Action Network FOIA Request-Grazing-Southern Region from Elizabeth Estill Regional Forester Southern Region, 207 pages. 1/9/00
Public Land - - - - - - - - - |Cattle| ~AUMS| Permitees
Alabama Nat. Forest (1998) ~ ~| ~ 30 | ~ 303| ~2
Arkansas Nat. Forest (1998)~ ~| ~700 | 4,160| 23
Florida Nat. Forest (1998) ~ ~| ~ 87 | 1,044| ~2
Georgia Nat. Forest (1998) ~ ~| ~240 | 3,091| ~9
Kentucky Nat. Forest (1995)~ ~| ~ 29 | ~ 167| ~2
Louisiana Nat. Forest (1998) ~| 1706 |16,036| 38
Mississippi Nat. Forest (1998)| ~266 | 2,705| 11
Oklahoma Nat. Forest (1998)~ ~| 3917 |19,523|108
Oklahoma Nat. Forest (1998)~ ~| ~176 | ~ 975| ~6
Oklahoma Nat. Grasslands(1998)| 2805 |14,973| 83
Nat. Forest System Texas(1998)| 5089 |32,469|112
Nat. Forest Texas (1998) ~ ~ ~| ~346 | 2,486| 27
Nat. Grasslands Texas (1998) ~| 4743 |29,983| 85
Nat. Forest Va. (1998) ~ ~ ~ ~| 1019 | 6,656| 37
Nat. Forest West Va. (1997)~ ~| 1169 | 5,688| 49

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SECTION (3-F) - Inventories - South- and Central America - [F1] Conversion of Forest to Cattle Pasture, [F2] Ruminant Inventories,

About 70% (5 million km2) of Latin American rangeland is natural grassland, woodlands, and savanna where tree cover is limited by drought, fire, flooding and poor soil includes the cerrado of central Brazil. This includes the llanos of the Orinoco River basin, the chaco of Argentina and Paraguay, the matorral of Chile and Peru, and the dry regions of north-central Mexico. These rangelands require 15-50 km2 to support 100 cows (2-7 AU/ km2). Comments: This data is also in Section (2-B). (la)

[F1] - Grazing land/ Animal Inventories - Conversion of Forest Land to Cattle Pasture -

Since 1970 (the 1960s according to (90W1)), Latin American farmers and ranchers have converted more that 200,000 km2 of moist tropical forest to cattle pasture (100,000 in Brazilian Amazon, 15000 in Colombian Amazon, 5000 in Peru). These pastures are productive for less than 10 years when weed invasions and P deficiencies limit forage growth (91D1) (90W1). (la)

About 50% of Central America is cattle pasture. 2/3 of the region's arable land is devoted to cattle production (p. 356 of Ref. (91J1)). (la)

Since 1960, over 40% of Central America's rain forest has been converted to cattle grazing (p. 356 of Ref. (91J1)). (la)

Central American forest- and pasture area (1000 km2) (91D1) (la)
Year - |1965|1970|1975|1980|1985|1988
Forest | 280| 240| 220| 200| 185| 180
Pasture| ~90| 110| 120| 125| 135| 140
Total~ | 370| 350| 340| 325| 320| 320
(See plot in Ref. (91D1))
Comments: The decline in the totals is probably taken up by growth in croplands and urban lands.

Over 70% of Amazonian deforestation (31000 sq. mi/ year) (80,300 km2/ year) is for cattle ranching (p. 356 of (91J1)). Comments: These ranches last 5-10 years before the tropical soil becomes infertile and the ranch must be abandoned for about 20 years.
Conversions in:
Bolivia:
750,000 acres/ year (3000 km2/ year) of forest cover are removed, largely for livestock (p. 357 of Ref. (91J1)).
Mexico: 180,000 km2 of Mexico's pasture were originally forest. 55,000 of that was tropical forest (Ref. 54 of Ref. (91D1)).
Colombia: About 1 million acres/ year (4000 km2/ year) of tree- and brush-cover are cleared for forage and cropland (p. 356 of Ref. (91J1)).
Costa Rica: In 1950, 35% of Costa Rica's arable farmland was in pasture. In early 1991, 54% was (91D1).

[F2] - Ruminant Inventories -

Ruminant Populations
South America (1972) (millions) (81C2):
Cattle|190| Sheep/Goats|142
Latin America (1955) (millions) (81C2):
Cattle|176| Sheep/Goats|156

Brazil
Cattle/ Buffalo inventory in Brazil (1989) = 138 million (FAO data) (91B1).

Brazil's pig industry has long been beset with problems with its exports due to the prevalence of swine fever, although the disease has declined dramatically in recent years. Brazil's pig herd: over 30 million head (Reuters, 5/13/00).

Uruguay: 10 million cattle on 130,000 km2 of grazing land (91D1).

Central America Ruminant population (1972) (million) (81C2):
Cattle: |39| Sheep/Goats:| 16

Mexico
On p. 332 of Ref. (70X1) is a table of cattle-, sheep- and goat- populations in 1960 in the 9 principal states of Mexico with semi-arid and arid conditions.

Comparison of (Mexico's?) private grazing land to communal grazing land (ejido) used by the poor (86L1)
Parameter - - - - - - - - - - - - - |Private|Communal
Stocking (acres/AU) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ | ~54 | ~ ~19
Productivity/animal (lb. beef/AU year)| 365 | ~ 143
Productivity/acre (lb.beef/acre/ year)|13.3 | ~ 7.5
Labor (man-hours/ year) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |7820 |130,000

Mexico's rangeland covers 900,000 km2, which includes 13% (740,000 km2) of Latin America's permanent pasture. Nearly 80% of these rangelands are dry grasslands, shrub-lands and savannas, primarily in north- and central Mexico (Ref. 97 and 98 of (90W1)). (la)

Capacity of Mexico's rangeland is 11-22 ha/ cow (4.5-9 cows/ km2) but average livestock density is 17-33 cows/ km2, producing serious soil erosion (Ref. 97 and 98 of (90W1)). Comments: This data is also in Section (2-B).

SECTION (3-G) - Inventories - Europe, Australia/ New Zealand and Oceania - [G1] Europe, [G2] Australia/ New Zealand, [G3]~ Oceania,

[G1] - Inventories - Grazing Animals - Europe -

Europe Animal Populations (millions):
Cattle:| 124 | Sheep/Goats:| 137 (1972) (81C2)
Cattle:| ~82 | Sheep/Goats:| 116 (1955) (81C2)
(Western Europe): 70% of Shetland Island's 1469 km2 are classed as rough grazing (97M1). (off Scotland)

[G2] - Inventories - Grazing Animals - Australia/ New Zealand -

Rainfall in Australia is highly variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons, resulting in massive die-offs (01F1) (02C1).

About 4.06 million km2 of Australia's rangeland are used for grazing, with stock density running as low as one beast (cow) per km2 (01F1) (02C1). Comments: This is about the same as in the most arid grazing lands of the US (2-3 cows/ mile2). (la)

Rangelands = 75% or 5.70 million km2 of Australia (01F1) (02C1). (la)

Less than 300,000 km2 (less than 4%) of Australia's land are of good, or very good, quality in terms of broad scale cropping potential (02C1). (la)

Total Australian land stock is 7.7 million km2 (01F1). The majority is hot desert (01F1).

Western Australia: 38% of land is used for pastoralism; 160,000 km2 -10% higher than 5 years ago (83C2). (la)

Australia has 165 million sheep (91D1) (150 million sheep according to Ref. (70T1)).

In 1963, Australia's arid zone (74% of Australia) supported 48 million sheep and 4.5 million cattle (p. 303 of Ref. (70P2)).

Sheep and cattle graze 60% of Australia's land (91D1), and 50% of the area grazed is arid or semi-arid (91D1).

Over 5.2 million km2 of Australia's 7.8 million km2 are grazed. Ranching is impossible on large portions of the interior because of a lack of rainfall and being barren (partly due to past over-grazing) (p. 357 of (91J1)).

Ref. (70P2) gives a map (p. 306) of Australia showing mean rainfall isohyets (lines of constant rainfall).

Australia's arid zone covers 5.7 million km2 - 74% of Australia's land (70P2). (la)

New Zealand has nearly 770 sheep/ km2 (154 AU/ km2) of grazing land (p. 357 of (91J1)).

New Zealand has 80 million sheep and 8 million cattle (p. 357 of (91J1)).

[G3] - Inventories - Grazing Animals - Oceania -

Cattle:| 37 million | Sheep/Goats:|224 million (1972) (81C2)
Cattle:| 22 million | Sheep/Goats:|170 million (1955) (81C2)
Over 50% of 300-mile-long New Caledonia and 33% of 7000-sq.-mi. Fiji Islands in the South Pacific have been cleared and converted to pasture (p. 357 of (91J1)).

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